My name is Maddie. I was born in South Carolina, and I am now a transfer student at ASU. This trip is to help improve fluency in speaking Japanese, as well as learning more about the culture my family is from. My career goals are in education, translation, and religion, both in Japan and in the United States. Hiroshima is an important place to me, as my grandmother on my father's side was born here. My aunt and uncles were born in Fukuoka, where my grandmother lived most of her life before moving to America with my white American grandfather. Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away before I was born, and there has always been a missing piece for me and my family since this. This trip is not only to further my career, but to also reconnect with family, culture, and spirituality were my blood is from. Any donations from this will go directly towards the expenses for this trip.